If you spent enough time online then you definitely know that content is king. Content is chief, it’s the emperor, it is the online world’s top dog. Your content is your business’ vehicle to reaching your audience. How do you produce content that reflects your business and resonates with your audience? 

Is there a formula, a specific string of words or length that can capture their attention and more importantly earn their trust? There is no one way to write good content. This is good news since there is not one type of business and definitely not one kind of audience. 

So what content does your audience really want? The answer is simple, your audience want content that are useful to them. Your audience will read the content that you produce if it is an answer to their need or satisfies their query. 

Answer a Question

Just like in a live conversation, your content should be comprised of an exchange of questions and answers. Your audience asks questions and you provide answers for them. An important key in finding out what your audience want is to listen to them. There are different ways to gather questions. Use the most effective platform to gather questions from your audience.

· Gather questions from Social Media Platforms. Social Media Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are very useful for gathering questions. On Facebook, you can make a page where people can post their questions or simply posting it as a status on your own page where people can post questions as a comment. On Twitter you can use a hashtag like #Ask_____ as in #AskTranseo to encourage your followers to post questions. The Hashtag is important because it enables you to filter through all of your feed and view the questions when you type the assigned hashtag in the search bar.

· Look through your blog’s comment section. Do you have a frequently asked question? Questions that usually pop up in the comments section of your blog that may require a thorough answer can be answered in a separate post. This way you are able to provide a thorough and detailed answer. This can also be shared to everyone following your content, even those who do not periodically peruse the comments section.

· Preempt questions. The best way to get great answers is to ask great questions. You can provide your audience with great answers before they ask. This is similar to an FAQ post where you answer questions that you know might come up.

How-to posts, Cheat Sheets and Hacks

How-to posts have been used in content marketing for years. Nowadays it is also often called Cheat sheets, Hacks or some other clever name. The aim however remains the same: to teach someone how to do something. Of all the types of content out there, How-to posts is one of the most popular and widely used ones. How-to posts are beneficial for both you and your reader.

1. Choose a topic. What are you an expert on? What task have you completed that will also benefit your readers? 

2. Tell your readers why it benefits them. Your readers know that knowing how to do something is valuable.  On a how to post, teach your readers hoe to do things and let them know why it is important for them to learn it. This is why posts such as ‘How to (insert task) Like a Pro’ as in 'How to Blog Like a Pro' or ‘You Have Been Doing _____ Wrong All Your Life’ as in 'You Have Been Doing Email Marketing Wrong All Your Life' exists.

The steps should be comprehensive and chronological whenever possible so that as long as your reader is following the steps while doing something they are able to accomplish the task successfully.

When giving instructions avoid terms that are too technical for your readers. Explain steps in the simplest terms possible. When jargon cannot be avoided, use them in the context that helps your readers grasp its meaning or simply insert its definition.

This can be an infographic, a tool or a link that provides more detail to your post. This helps your reader gain more insight to a task and adds more authority to your blog.

A/B Testing, Case Studies and Reviews

People want results. Your readers want to know how something works. They also want to know if it works well. A/B Testing, Case Studies and Reviews are effective in presenting these results and how you have derived them. 

· A/B Testing is comprised of two elements and a metric for success. The purpose of this process is to test which of the two elements are more successful in achieving the metric.

· A case study can be written in different ways. It can be a descriptive narrative of events, it can explore and investigate, it can present and compare information or show cause and effect.

·In a review, tell your readers whether or not a product is worth their time and money or not. Reviews such as ‘We Tried _______ So You Don’t Have To. Ever. ’  as in 'We Tried Cosmopolitan's Tips for Single Women So You Don't Have To. Ever.' and ‘The Best _______ Of Your Life’ as in 'The Best Beach Holiday Of Your Life' are reviews that are market specific and when the topic or product is chosen correctly can capture the interest of your readers.

Provide a solution

Have you solved a problem? Are your readers likely to have encountered the same? Share it with your readers. This is the ultimate show and tell when it comes to content writing. To identify solutions that you should be writing about, ask these two questions:

1. Who are your ideal readers or clients? 

2. What problems are they likely to encounter?

When writing about a solution make sure to describe your client’s problem in your opening paragraph. This will set the parameters of the problem you are solving and let your readers determine if their situation coincides with yours. The solutions then need to be detailed and specific. You have an advantage when you are sharing from your own problem-solving experience because you are able to provide a first-hand account of how the process goes.

When encountering a problem, it is best to enlist the help of other industry experts and other resources to come up with a solution. Quote these experts and provide links to online resources or book citations. This will not only provide more insight to your readers and strengthen the authority of your post.

Share an experience

Travel bloggers are popular for these types of posts. Personal experience is effective because it presents a human voice to your brand. If you are an entrepreneur or an expert that has a unique experience or have gone through something that your readers will relate to, share it.

Tips for creating engaging content:

· Use different formats. Not a writer? No worries. Producing good content is not limited to the written word. Just ask the teens earning more than you on Vine and YouTube. You can use one or more formats inside one post. Here are some of the formats you can use to enrich your content.

· Be sincere. There is more online content than your readers can read in a lifetime. Everyday websites, gurus, experts and authors are churning out content, competing for the top spot on search engines as well as the audience’s likes, favourites and shares. This is why sincerity goes a long way. Your readers expect and deserve more than just a string of words constructed to fulfil an SEO requirement.

· Inspire action. One of the most important questions your post should answer the question ‘and then what?’

· Inject some personality. There is no one personality type to dominate what content your audience wants. While humorous content is popular and an edgy style is controversial, the tone that comes across the most naturally for you and your brand is the best route for you to go with. 

Produce content with your readers in mind. Getting to know what is useful and important to them will guide you in determining the content you should be producing and the format on how to present them.

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About the Author

 

About Angelica Manlunas

Angelica lives off of coffee and pizza. She spends her time online tinkering on social media, watching short films and poetry slams. Her offline time is devoted to trips to the beach or spending lazy days indoors with a book in her hand. Also, she writes at least 1000 words every day. Email Angelica at angelica.manlunas@transeo.com.au and follow Angelica @ang_transeo.